Ladder support



J. REED I 2,307,543 I LADDEREUPPQ T Filed Aug. 4, 1941 Patented Jan. 5, 1943 UNITED STATES PAT-EN T 0 FFK QET LADDER SUPPORT J ohn Reed, Des Moines, --Iowa- Application August 4, 1941, Serial No. 405,383 2 Claims. (01. 228-60) The object of my invention is to provide a ladder support of simple, durable and inexpensive construction which may be readily and easily applied to an ordinary ladder and which in use supports the ladder firmly in position resting upon a building roof spaced apart from the eaves or eave spouts on a roof and which will not penetrate or harm a roof and which will also permit the operator standing at the foot of the ladder to readily and easily shift the position of the ladder relative to the roof without injury to the roof.

A further object is to provide a ladder support whereby an operator standing at the foot of a ladder may adjust the support so that it may be elevated or lowered to position for engaging a roof of any ordinary degree of inclination with the ladder at any desired degree of inclination, and thereafter when the weight of an operator is applied to the upper end of the ladder the support will automatically become firmly gripped to the ladder upright and whereby the ladder is firmly supported upon the roof against tilting movement.

In the accompanying drawing- Figure 1 shows a side view of a ladder having my improved support applied thereto and resting upon a roof in the position for use;

Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the ladder support detached; and

Figure 3 shows a side view of the upper end portion of a ladder with my improved ladder support, the clamping bars being shown in section and in clamped position as in use; the dotted lines show the position of the support released from clamping position and ready to be moved upwardly and downwardly relative to a ladder.

The ladder is of the usual construction having uprights l0 and rounds II. I preferably apply a pulley l2 to the top round.

The ladder support comprises a clamping bar l3 having arms l4 at its ends at right angles to the bar and with roof engaging members l5 at the outer ends of said arms, each being extended outwardly from the arms in opposite directions and each having an upturned end portion l6 and being rounded at its lower edge at I l.

A coacting clamping bar I8 is fixed at its ends to the arms l4 and is spaced apart from the clamping bar l3 a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the ladder uprights to which it is applied.

A ladder support hanger it is attached at its ends to the arms l4, and at its central portion it is provided with a slotted head 20 having notches 2|. A ring 22 is extended through said slot, and a rope 23 is attached to the ring and passed over the pulley l2 and extended to the foot portion of the ladder. The point at which the hanger I9 is applied to the arms l4 and the degree of inclination of the hanger is such that when the ladder is in a substantially upright position the weight of the support is so balanced upon the rope as to hold the support substantially at right angles to the ladder uprights, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3, so that it will freely slide longitudinally of the ladder. When the ladder is at certain degrees of inclination, or when the support is in certain positions of vertical adjustment relative to the pulley I2, there may be a tendency for the support to grip the ladder and thus interfere with its vertical adjustment upon the ladder. When this occurs it is only necessary to adjust the position of the ring 22 in the notched slot, whereupon the support will be balanced for free up and down movement.

In practice the ladder is placed in upright position with its foot the desired distance from the eaves of the roof, then the operator pulls downwardly upon the rope 23 and raises the support to position above the roof and close to the eaves thereof. He then tilts the ladder toward the roof and when the roof engaging members l5 are forced against the roof by the weight of the ladder, the support will be tilted relative clamping bars l3 and I8 will engage opposite sides of the ladder uprights and firmly clamp the ladder, thereby firmly holding the support to the ladder, and when the operators weight is added at the top of the ladder, this clamping action is increased and becomes firm enough to securely hold the ladder upon the roof even though the foot of the ladder were slightly moved. This bracing action prevents tilting movement of the ladder both toward and from the eaves and longitudinally of the eaves.

When the operator descends from the ladder, the ladder is tilted away from the eaves and the support is then lowered to the ground with the rope 23.

I claim as my invention:

1. A ladder support, comprising two substantially parallel ladder gripping bars and end members fixed thereto and forming a substantially rectangular member of such proportions as to receive a ladder between the bars and loosely lit a ladder upright member, to thereby be readily slidable longitudinally of a ladder when said end members are extended substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of a ladder, and to grip the uprights of a ladder when said end members are tilted to other than a substantially right angle relative to the longitudinal axis of a ladder, a roof-engaging member fixed to said rectangular member, a hanger pivotally connected to the ladder support in position to substantially balance the weight of the ladder support between the ladder engaging members and the roof-engaging members, and a rope or other flexible member adjustably attached to the hanger for movement toward or from a ladder, said rope being passed over an elevated support at the top of a ladder and extended to the lower portion thereof.

2. A ladder support, comprising two substantially parallel ladder gripping bars and end manifbers fixed thereto and forming a substantiall rectangular member of such proportions as t; receive a ladder between the bars and loosel fit a ladder upright member, to thereby be readily slidable longitudinally of a ladder when said end members are extended substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of a ladder, and to grip the uprights of a ladder when said end member are tilted to other than a substantially right angle relative to the longitudinal axis of a ladder, a roof-engaging member fixed to said rectangular member, a hanger pivoted to the said arms and having at its upper end a slotted head having notches, a hook to enter any selected one of said notches, and a rope attached to the hook to be extended over an elevated portion of a ladder and to the lower portion of the ladder.

JOHN REED. 

